Total housing starts increased 8.3% (2.1% y/y) during
June to 1.215 million (AR) from 1.122 million in May, revised from 1.092
million. It was the highest level of starts since February. Starts of 1.150
million had been expected in the Action Economic Forecast Survey.

Starts of single-family homes improved 6.3% (10.3% y/y) to
849,000, also the highest level since February. Starts of multi-family units
rose 13.3% (-12.9% y/y) to 366,000, a four month high.

By region, starts in the Northeast strengthened 83.7% (38.6%
y/y) to 158,000, the highest level since October. In the Midwest starts,
increased 22.0% (9.0% y/y) to 205,000, a seven month high. Starts in the West
improved 1.6% (6.0% y/y) to 319,000, the highest level since February. Starts in
the South declined 3.8% to 533,000 (-9.2% y/y), the fifth consecutive monthly shortfall.

Building permits increased 7.4% (5.1% y/y) to 1.254 million
from 1.168 million in May. It was the highest level in three months. Permits to
build single-family homes rose 4.1% (9.2% y/y) to 811,000, while multi-family
permits gained 13.9% (-1.6% y/y) to 443,000.

The housing starts and permits figures can be found in
Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.